Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Censorship and Freedom of Expression in Europe:Ancient Greece 1948Luke RenegarCensorshipCensor (v.): to suppress or delete as objectionable Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., p. 200The term censor derives from the Roman RepublicCensorship in the modern sense is often political or religious in natureSource: Newth

The Roman CensorsCensors were elected officials in the Roman RepublicThere were two of them at all timesTheir name derived from their supervision of the quinquennial censusThey were also responsible for the punishment of moral offensesSource: SmithAncient Censorship - SocratesSocrates (Athenian philosipher) censored in 399 BCCharges:Religious nonconformityCorrupting the youth1 extremely nonspecificExecutedCalled first martyr for free speech (Linder)Source: Linder12th -13th Centuries Inquisitions DevelopInquisitions were Catholic Church courts established to prosecute alleged heresiesThey could coerce the cooperation of secular authorities in enforcing their orders1231 Pope Gregory IX officially establishes life imprisonment as punishment for repentant heretics, death for unrepentant onesSource: Van Helden1275 English Censorship BeginsDe Scandalis Magnatum passedProhibited defaming the Monarch or other Great Men of the Realm (The Dangerous)Cases arising from this law eventually were routed to the infamous Star ChamberSource: The Dangerous Lives1478 Spanish Inquisition EstablishedEstablished by Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of CastileAn outgrowth of the monarchs reconquista policies (so it really wasnt all that unexpected...) Responsible for repression of heresy, Islam, Judaism, and philosophies the monarchs didnt like generallySource: The Spanish1491 First Formal Catholic CensorshipBishop of Treviso (with authority over Vencice) ruled that any book on religion required the approval of the diocese prior to publication[D]escribed as the first printed regulation of the [Catholic] Church having to do with censorship. (Putnam)Applied only to VeniceSource: Putnam1501 Inter Multiplices Issued by Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia)Instructs rulers of certain German dioceses to carefully censor publications thereinVery early example of systematic censorship of written works coming from RomeSource: Putnam1521 Diet of WormsMartin Luther formally excommunicated in Jan. 1521Declared outlaw for refusing to recant heretical teachings by the Diet of Worms under Holy Roman Emperor Charles VThe Diet was a notable instance of civil consequences for religious speechSource: Luther1559 - Index Librorum Prohibitorum PublishedIndex etc. is Latin for Index of Forbidden BooksPublished by the Catholic ChurchListed books deemed heretical or injurious to public moralityLast edition issued in 1948Revoked in 1966Source: Index1563 Book Licensing in France BeginsCharles IX of France required all books be approved prior to publicationEarly instance of widespread prior restraint (requiring approval before publication)Significant because of its massive scope (the entirety of France)Source: Newth

1641 Star Chamber AbolishedEnglish courtCould ignore common law procedure and precedent (e.g., no juries)Frequently used to enforce (sometimes arbitrary) royal decreesAbolished by Long Parliament in 1641Source: Court

1643 Licensing Order in EnglandOrder of ParliamentRequired both prior restraint of all printed material and registration of printed material with the Company of Stationers prior to publicationOpposed by Milton in his Aeropagitica (1644)Sources: Parkinson, Milton: Aeropagitica, and Milton: Parliaments Licensing Order of 16431695 Licensing Act ExpiresMarks the end of formal prior restraint in BritainSource: Emerson 6511766 Swedish Press FreedomFormal censorship of publications abolishedNotable exceptions (repealed in 1810):Theological mattersThe kingAlso served as a freedom of information law, the earliest such law documentedSource: Freedom, Sweden1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and CitizenGuarantees freedom of speechNot qualified on the basis of religionSource: Declaration1792 Libel Act (England)Major piece of libel reform in Great BritainMade the determination of what constituted libel a question for juries rather than judgesSource: Charles James Fox1806 Execution of Johann PalmPrinter in Nuremburg who published material critical of NapoleonNapoleon sent an extraterratorial force in pursuit of PalmThe force captured him, convicted him at a court-martial, and executed himSource: De Bourrienne 336-3371819 Carlsbad DecreesPassed in German Confederation in response to increasing radical and nationalistic activitiesCensored many publicationsEditors of banned publications faced a five year personal ban on publicationsRestricted activities at universitiesSources: Carlsbad

1870s Bismarcks KulturkampfGerman Chancellor Otto von Bismarck made every attempt to repress the Catholic Church in GermanyBismarck: Forbade priests from preaching political sermonsAbolished the Jesuit orderInserted the state into institutions of Catholic theological educationSource: Kulturkampf

1914 WWI CensorshipFreedom of press supsended in Germany and FranceBritish press remained somewhat free (subject to restrictions concerning military secrets), but British government controlled telegraphsSource: Jrgen1922 Glavlit EstablishedPrimary Soviet censorship bureaucracyCharged with elimination of counterrevolutionary expressionSystematically destroyed disfavored writers in USSR and occupied countriesSource: Newth

1938 - KristallnachtGerman for Night of Broken GlassNazi forces raided Jewish homes and businessesCensorship of Jewish ideas and customs through personal violenceSource: Kristallnacht1948 Universal Declaration of Human RightsEstablished by United NationsAdopted as a response to the atrocities of WWIIArticle 19 guarantees the right to freedom of expressionSources: Universal (2009), Universal (2007)Works Cited"Carlsbad Decrees".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar 2014 .Censor. Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. 11th ed. 2004. Print."Censorship." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Jeffrey Wilson. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 843-848. Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar 2014."Censorship." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Vol. 1. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. 290-295. Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar 2014. "Charles James Fox".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar 2014"Court of Star Chamber".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar 2014."The Dangerous Lives of Printers: The Evolution of Freedom of the Press." The E Pluribus Unum Project. E Pluribus Unum Project (Assumption College). Web. 22 Mar 2014.De Bourrienne, Louis Antoine Fauvelet. R.W. Phipps, ed. Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte. Vol. II. London: Bentley, 1885. Google Book Search. Web. 23 Mar 2014. "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, 26 August 1789." Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. American Social History Productions, Inc, 2001. Web. 23 Mar 2014.Emerson, Thomas. "The Doctrine of Prior Restraint." Law and Contemporary Problems. 20.4 (1955): 648-671. Yale Faculty Scholarship Series. Web. 23 Mar 2014."Freedom of the Press Act of 1766".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar 2014."Index Librorum Prohibitorum".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar 2014.Jrgen, Wilke. "Censorship and Freedom of the Press." EGO European History Online. Leibniz Institute of European History, 05 Aug 2013. Web. 23 Mar 2014.

Works Cited (cont.)"Kristallnacht".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2014."Kulturkampf".Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online.Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 23 Mar 2014.Linder, Doug. "The Trial of Socrates ." Famous Trials. University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, 2002. Web. 25 Mar 2014. "Luther, Martin." World Religions Reference Library. Ed. Julie L. Carnagie, et al. Vol. 4: Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. 225-234. Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar 2014. Laursen, John Christian. "Milton: Aeropagitica." John Milton Reading Room. Dartmouth College. Web. 23 Mar 2014."Milton: Parliament's Licensing Order of 1643." John Milton Reading Room. Dartmouth College. Web. 23 Mar 2014.Newth, Mette. "The Long History of Censorship." Beacon for Freedom of Expression. National Library of Norway, 2010. Web. 23 Mar 2014.Parkinson, Sid, ed. "The Aeropagitica." St. Lawrence Institute for the Advancement of Learning. St. Lawrence Institute. Web. 23 Mar 2014.Putnam, George Haven. The Censorship of the Church of Rome. I. New York: Putnam, 1906. Google Book Search. Web. 23 Mar 2014. Smith, William, William Wayte, and G. E. Marindin, eds. "Censor." A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: 1890. Perseus Digital Library. Web. 22 Mar 2014."The Spanish Inquisition Is Founded: 1478." Global Events: Milestone Events Throughout History. Ed. Jennifer Stock. Vol. 4: Europe. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2013. Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2014."Sweden." UCL Constitution Unit. UCL School of Public Policy, 30 Sept 2011. Web. 23 Mar 2014. "Universal Declaration of Human Rights." UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Vol. 8. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 1611-1612. Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2014."Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. Ed. Timothy L. Gall and Jeneen M. Hobby. 12th ed. Vol. 1: United Nations. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Student Resources in Context. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.Van Helden, Albert. "The Inquisition." Galileo Project. Galileo Project (Rice University), n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2014.